In case you missed it | More fracking lawsuits?

We thought it would be fun, in light of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association’s lawsuit against Longmont’s fracking ban, to ask whether the industry group also plans to file suit against the other Front Range municipalities that passed a ban or extended moratorium on fracking in the last election, including Boulder and Lafayette.

Here is part of the response from COGA’s Doug Flanders: “In the short term our focus is to continue to support community education efforts about the importance and safety of Colorado’s oil and gas industry. There are over 100,000 Coloradans, and their families dependent on the oil and gas industry for their well-being and livelihood. While we ardently hoped that we would not have to consider going to court to allow an activity which supports these families, COGA will be evaluating all our legal options. The State Supreme Court has clearly stated oil and gas cannot be banned within a city, county, or municipality.”

In other words, “We ain’t sayin’.”

ROCKIN’ CLOSURE

It’s a sad day for fans of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center (RMPJC) and its “Rockin’ Betty’s Thrift Store.”

The store, which opened in October 2012 and was named for RMPJC co-administrator Betty Ball, announced in June that it was in financial trouble and may have to shutter its doors. Indeed, the shop is closing on Nov. 24, but until then, everything is 50 percent off (60 percent off for members).

In related news, the RMPJC will hold its 30th annual Peacemaker of the Year award ceremony at 5 p.m. on Nov. 16 at the Unity Church in Boulder. This year the awards are going to Jon Lipsky, who led the FBI raid on Rocky Flats in June 1989, and Wes McKinley, the foreman of the grand jury that examined evidence against the corporation that operated Rocky Flats.

In addition, a Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Nancy Sullo and Tom Moore, for their many years of activism with Left Hand Books, the RMPJC and other organizations. The Award for Peace and Justice through Youth Organizing will be presented to New Era Colorado.

In case you hadn’t heard, the Camera, Times-Call and their various corporate sister papers are putting out a pictorial book featuring their flood coverage — and donating a whopping 5 percent to flood victims. We assume this is 5 percent of the sales price, because if it’s a percentage of the after-expense profit we don’t have a calculator with enough decimal points to calculate the per-book donation.

So if the donation to flood victims is based on sales price, and if you order the book right now for only $29.95 (it’s regularly $39.95), you too can be the proud owner of this keepsake and go to sleep tonight knowing that you donated $28.46 to a giant corporation and $1.49 to flood victims.

But if you really want to help those victims, you might consider waiting until after the sale to buy your book so that an additional 49 cents or so will get to the flood victims — after it’s split between the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado and the Foothills Flood Relief Fund for Boulder and Broomfield Counties. Every very little bit helps.

And we love the sensational title of the book. First, media outlets called it a 100-year flood, and then a 500-year flood, even though experts we talked to put the Boulder Creek version at, oh, about a 50-year flood. But according to the newspaper chain’s book, it was A Thousand Year Rain!Gosh, we wouldn’t want to leave people with the false impression that we don’t have to worry about another flood like that for 1,000 years, when in reality there is more like a 2 percent chance of it happening every year, at least in Boulder.

As
COGA’s statement points out hydraulic fracturing bans do indeed impact jobs and
Colorado’s economy. In fact, by 2025 hydraulic fracturing is projected to
support nearly 3.9 million jobs, including thousands right here in Colorado.
And, by 2024, hydraulic fracturing can realize the goal of extracting 100% of
our liquid fuels from the U.S. and Canada – freeing our nation from dependence
on foreign oil. In Colorado and nationwide, hydraulic fracturing has proven
over decades to be a safe engineering technology, which continues to be subject
to rigorous standards and regulations. The gains to our energy future and
economy are substantial, and delaying this progress is misguided.